Risa's Story
by M. Castor
Summary: The teenage, female warrior of the village is satisfied with her life. She and her friend see no problems in sight as they playfully spar with each other. Their peaceful life is threatened with an imminent force that is inconspicious to one of them.
1. Risa

**And this story will kick off a series of adventures that are yet to be told. Again, similiar to Mizuki's in the way it does not follow a Kingdom Hearts theme throughout the whole story until the near end.**

_Cling, ding! Cling, cling…cling!_

Clancy brandishes the sword at me. Our swords meet again.

"Yaaah! Haah!"

I block his offensive attack and push him off with my sword. He staggers back and leaves a great opening for me to come in for the kill. I lunge at him, and before he can swing and hit me back, I knock the sword from his hand. It flips in in the air before the blade lands in the ground. Clancy falls on the ground with my sword pointed at his neck.

"Damn it," he mutters, slamming his fist in the soil. I take a step closer. Clancy gulps. A soothing breeze blows willow leaves past our eyes.

I toss the blade in the air, reversing the ends, and catch it with the handle aiming at his throat. He smiles.

"How many times do you practice a day?"

"Fifteen."

I hold my hand out. Clancy takes my hand and springs to his feet. "So am I gettin' better or what?"

"Worse."

"Tell me otherwise."

"You are improving wonderfully."

"Never mind," he walks over to his sword and retrieves it from the ground. "Why can't I get any better?"

"Do not be hard on yourself," I assure. "You need to practice more."

Clancy paces over to me. "But I have! Every day, every night-after breakfast, before dinner. And I'm nowhere near as good you are even though we're the same age."

"Certain people were made to be weapons."

"I wish I was."

"You do-"

My backdoor opens gently. Miriam stands in the doorway in her stay-at-home maroon attire.

"Lunch is ready Mistress and Mr. Philip," she announces. Her voice has always been pleasing and her fragile face is what makes me like her. Clancy cheers loudly, tossing the silver sword on the ground, and runs inside. I look upward to the bright blue sky and the sun shining above the village.

"Risa, you comin'?"

I sheathe my sword, pick up Clancy's, and trot into the house. An aroma of fresh flowers mixed with baked potatoes lingers in the old house. The creaky wooden floor is spotless, the table is set for the three of us, and the house could not be any cleaner. Clancy is about to woof down the mashed potatoes with his bare hands. Miriam slaps his hand.

"Ow, ow!"

"Wait for Mistress to come. That's rude."

"You left your sword outside," I slide the sword by the warm fireplace. "If you want to be a good swordsman, you must never abandon your sword for _anything_."

Clancy sulks, crossing his arms. "Thanks."

I pick up the fork and dig it into the buttery mashed potatoes. Miriam watches as I bring it to my mouth, inhaling the scent first, and then inserting it into my mouth. The potatoes melt in my mouth and have me wanting more, but I hold myself back.

Meanwhile Clancy is chowing down on the food like an animal. Miriam shakes her head in disgust and waves a finger at him.

"What?" he asks with a mouthful of green beans to go with the mashed potatoes.

"You're making a mess on the table! Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

He suddenly puts his fork down and drops his head. Miriam gawked angrily at Clancy as he rises from the table without excusing himself and runs out the house.

"Such disrespectfulness. I apologize on his behalf Mistress," Miriam stands from the table and bows deeply before closing the door. I am the only one who can understand his anger, so I am able to forgive him for departing. He left his sword here again.

In no time, I am outside training with wooden dummies. I practice my flips and leaps and slice through the wooden dummy. I zoom towards the strategically placed dummies placed in a circle. By spinning on the ball of my foot, I slash each of the dummies, jump into a front-flip, and while upside, I hurl the sword at the one in the middle.

I land perfectly and unleash a barrage of punches and kicks on the rest of the dummies. When the wood becomes dented and broken, I sigh contently. I read the darkened sky: most likely seven by now. I notice Miriam leaning on a much older wooden dummy, watching me.

"Yes?"

"Mistress, I called you in for dinner fifteen minutes ago. You are a hard worker-"

"_Daughter come in here!"_ an old, voice thunders from the house. Miriam winces and mouths "sorry" to me. Just what I need the night before the tournament.

I walk into the house, Miriam following behind, to meet Father. Father has twice the amount of wrinkles he had the last time we met and his mouth forms a permanent frown. He now carries an oak cane with a gold bottom-a fitting treasure for the Chief of Willow from his friend in the neighboring village.

"Shall I leave Master?" Miriam asks, bowing to him.

"No, that is unnecessary," Father says, slowly and carefully sitting on the firm sofa. He observes the jaded living room, with small plants on the window seal. The leaves sway in the gentle breeze, contrary to the tense atmosphere in the room.

"What do you want?" I cross my arms, keeping my distance. I feel Miriam creep up behind me.

"Mistress, I suggest you have a more lenient tone with the Chief of Willow. He is in a bad mood," she whispers. Father retaliates with an angry glare that I got used to when I was nine.

"Do not disrespect me in the house that I have paid for. You are lucky that you are staying in this house for free anyway. And with a free servant," he mutters exasperatedly.

"What do you want?" I reiterate. My monotone voice upsets him further.

"You are not to enter the tournament tomorrow."

My fists clench.

"And why is that?"

"_That is an order. Do as you're told."_

I hold my breath, trying to ignore the pain surging from my arm as Miriam rushes over to help Father to his feet.

"No." Such an unfamiliar word that likes to casually slip from my lips.


	2. Father

Father feebly rejects Miriam's help with a hand gesture. His spiteful eyes are focused on mine.

"What did you say?"

"No," I repeat proudly. I grip my left arm as if attempting to squeeze the pain out. "You did not state a reason for not entering to tournament."

He furiously puffs and heaves, stomping the cane on the ground as he approaches me.

"I don't know where you have been getting this defiant attitude from, but it ends here. Since when do I, _the Chief_, take orders from you?"

"I was about to say the same thing. I will be Chief when you pass away."

"How dare you!"

Miriam acts as a buffer. "Mistress, Master-please compose yourselves." She turns to Father. "Master, forgive me for intervening, but I think Mistress would just like to know why she is forbidden from entering the tournament."

"I already know," I take a step back, rubbing my arm. "Father does not want to give the reward of the tournament if I win. Isn't that right?"

"Do you take me for a fool? I would never give a daughter of mine, one such as yourself the reward," he roars furiously. "Don't enter the tournament."

"Noo-" my arm throbs with pain. Miriam sadly gazes on, stepping out of the danger zone that lies between me and Father. She puts her hands on my shoulders and touches my left arm.

"Mistress, please si-"

I shake her off forcefully, narrowing my eyes at Father. "I hate you."

In an instant, I am flying out the door with Miriam calling me from the house. As I run past the countless women carrying jugs and pots and the children playing Rocks and Feathers, thunder booms. Heavy starts to pelt me and the rest of the villagers, who scurry indoors. I get off the pathway that leads to The Golden Village, and cut into the jungle.

In a couple of minutes, I am out of the jungle and in the Forest of the Willows. Left and right are the world's tallest willow trees, with long draping leaves. I find one to sit under and hug my knees, hiding my face from Mother Nature.

I hate him. I hate him. I hate him so much. I wish Father would die a horrible death and rot in hell for all of the crimes he did.

All the scars he left.

Rain slams down harder on the back of my head. Funny how when I am not able to cry, the sky does it for me.

"Risa."

A boy's voice whispers from a few feet away.

"Yoohoo, Risa."

"Go away Clancy."

I hear him walk over to me and plop right next to me. He taps my knee with his wet fingers.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Only when you do."

I already know why Clancy got upset earlier-I just like hearing people telling me what is on their minds so I can confirm it.

"You remember when Ma died," he says longingly. "I was never taught manners and little things like that the way you were."

"I know."

"So why did you ask me?"

"I do not know."

"Your turn."

I pick up my head and sigh. "Father ordered me not to enter the tournament tomorrow because-"

"What!" Clancy springs up in astonishment. "That's only because you're gonna whip everyone's butts! That's not fair-he can't do that! _You're his daughter!"_

"And he is my Father. Therefore, I cannot resist," I stand up and lean against the tree. "There was no point in telling you this because I knew you were going to react this way. Besides, there is nothing that anyone could do to fix this decision." The rain lightens up a bit.

"I'm sure there is, I'm sure," he reassures me, snatching my hands. "You'll see, you're going to kick so much butt tomorrow."

I pull my hands out from his. He knows about my secret, about when a decision is made from anybody is final. As long as I am alive, there is not a decision that I have to avoid.

"It is getting late. I am going to practice," I say to him. His eyes trace the ground.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow I guess."

'

_Thump-doom._

I sit on top of the intruder's waist, pinning him down to the wooden floor. My fist is cranked back, ready to punch the man who dared to climb in my window and sneak by my bed.

"Wait, wait!" the intruder whispers. "It's me, it's me!"

I breathe a sigh to receive patience. It is difficult to be patient and knowledgeable when one has been rudely awakened.

"Clancy, you should know _never_ to sneak up on me while I sleep. That is when my senses are heightened," I warn seriously. Even if he is my friend, I was about to kill him when I heard him bump into my bed frame like a clumsy oaf.

"Okay, okay! Sorry," he utters in the darkness. "I came to come get you."

"Get me?" I hit him a love tap on his cheek.

"Ouch!"

"Do not disturb my sleep ever again. And what do you mean 'get me'? It is hard to understand your vernacular."

"We gotta head over to the tournament, and it starts when the sun is at the highest point in the sky. And can you get off me?" Clancy tries worming his way out of my trap. I get on my own feet, and then sit back down on the bed.

"We addressed this issue yesterday," I say, recalling the fight last night. That was the second time I ever said "no" to Father.

"I know, I know, but it's not fair," Clancy complains, sitting up. "I mean come on, you deserve to go."

"An order is an order," I fall back on my pillow and throw the blankets over me. "Please leave me to go to bed."

He sighs impatiently, slowly rising to his feet. "I'm afraid I have no other choice. Risa, forgive me okay?"

I hastily sit up.

"You promised you would never."

"Go to-"

The door swings open. Miriam holds a candle up, wearing her pink nightgown.

"What's going…on?" she yawns in between words. "Mistress? Shouldn't you be getting ready for the tournament?"

"I am not allowed," I restate the fact that nobody in the rooms seems to understand.

"Even if he is the Chief and your father, if you want my opinion Mistress, I would suggest you go to the tournament," she nonchalantly says as she leans against the door.

"Ha! See, told you!" Clancy jumps up and down and points at me like a five year old while he is actually my age. Miriam rubs her eyes and blinks several times at Clancy as if he is an illusion.

"Gah! Clancy-what would possess you to be in here at this hour? How d-did you sneak in here and disturb Mistress?" she acknowledges Clancy loudly.

"Uh, ahm…yes?" he answers hesitantly, but then quickly adds, "But I wanted Risa to go to the tournament, against her father's wishes."

Miriam eases up. "That was very wild and dangerous of you to do, you know that? Well, you know what-I'm not against you-take Mistress to the Golden Village Tournament today. I'm sure she'll enjoy herself."

"Miriam, I can-"

"Mistress, your friend is very loyal to you and wants you to be at your best _always_. Please, I insist you accept his help-just this once though!"


	3. Good Night, Village of Willow

Clancy carries a smug look all the way to The Golden Village.

"Miriam said I was loyal. Hm, hm, hm. 'Oh Clancy, you and Risa will be the best of friends forever!'"

"Shut up."

My arm is tingling, but not in severe pain. Miriam's command overrules Father's, only making my arm throb lightly. It takes us an hour to get to The Golden Village. It is not a village made of a pure gold-people call it only because it is resourceful in gold mines.

"Clancy, you are entering?" I ask as I watch him write his name down on the scroll pinned against a tree.

"Mmhmm," he hums. "No point in coming all this way and just watching, right?"

"If you say so."

Looking past Clancy, I glance at the enclosed fighting area. It is a large rectangular field enclosed with tall steel fences coated with gold. The fences provide a mediocre view as opposed to the two gold plated seats reserved for the Chief of Golden Village and the Chief of Willow.

"All participants please enter the fighting field," announces the messenger of the Chief of The Golden Village. My father should be here soon.

I hope I do not have to face him.

All of us, mainly older men and young boys pour into the field. Soon, there is a crowd gathered behind the fences. They press their faces against them, watching each of us with faces of awe. In the midst of the crowd, two distinguished men stroll over to the platform thrones. I recognized the old, but nimble Chief of Golden Village and behind him wearing his finest robe is Father. The crowd cheers for the both of them along with the contestants. I adjust my hood and fade into the swarm of warriors that are exiting the battlefield.

"Welcome contestants far and wide to our annual tournament," the Chief of Golden Village starts. "I would just like to say that it is an honor to have the Chief of Willow here to join us. I suppose we would not want to cheat and pull dirty moves on our opponents in the presence of such a powerful man. Remember, this is the man who fought against Mother Nature with his bare hands!"

Father cracks a hearty smile, then immediately frowns.

"He deserves every ounce of respect from each one of you. I digress-we are here because we have come to see warriors from villages to clash today. Some of you might die, some might live-regardless of what happens, I want to see complete fights. There will be no quitting or drop outs allowed in the beginning. I've said what I need to say-anything from you Ali?"

"Let the fighting commence!" he shouts, pretending to be just as youthful as Chief of Golden Village. He opens the scroll where we wrote down our names, and I suppose he is picking them at random. I pray I am not the first name he sees. "Paul of Barb's Village versus Clancy of the Village of Willow."

The crowd cheers excitedly as an adult holding a wooden club in his hand walks out of the swarm of contestants and onto the field. Clancy brandishes his thin-bladed, steel sword over his head and rushes onto the field.

"Start when you are ready warriors."

Clancy is the first to strike.

'

After Clancy defeated his first opponent, other powerful fought against each other. Some really chickened out and most of them died. Blood has been spilled on the bright yellow soil. I triumphantly walk out of the field, being victorious with my first two matches. When Father discovered my being here, things were, using Clancy's vernacular, "pretty ugly".

"_Laos of Dragon Village versus-what?"_

"_Ali, what is the matter?" the Chief of the Golden Village asked. Father shook his head and mumbled to himself._

"_Risa, show yourself!"_

_I climbed on top of the steel fence and waved at him smugly. He growls and his face turns tomato._

"_I told you-you were not allowed! You must be disqualified!" he thundered, slamming his fist on the armrest. The crowd uttered sounds and words of befuddlement to each other._

"_Remember the rules," Chief of the Golden Village reminded him. "No quitting-we both agreed on that rule."_

_There is no way that Father would embarrass himself and disgrace our village by forcing me to forfeit. And he knows that; he fidgeted in his chair for a bit and then dropped his head in his veiny hand. Then he whispered something to Chief of Golden Village and they both nodded._

"_Laos of Dragon Village versus Risa of the Village of Willow!" _

_I had the honor of having the Chief of the Golden Village announce my first battle. The sun shone brightly on the village when I felt Father's glare feeding my determination to win._

It is time for the last round of the tournament.

"Clancy of the Village of Willow versus Risa of the Village of the Willow."

Clancy and I head into the sulfur-colored, blood-stained field. He stands in front of me and flashes a friendly smile.

"I worked this hard so that I can get to fight you." I can hear the excitement in his voice. "I'm going to do try my best to defeat you!"

"Same."

As before every fight, we both point our swords at each other's hearts, then stand in a fighting stance. I forget what the significance behind him, but I recall Clancy coming up with it.

"Raah!" Clancy lunges at me with his sword-hand cocked back. I counter it with quick block and attempt to foot sweep him. He sees my leg and hops back; as he lands, I charge at him with both hands flowing in the wind.

He tries a swipe at me, but I duck and send him a hard hit with the blunt of my sword against his rib cage. Clancy flies back, rolling on the ground like a trained soldier, and then getting to his feet. He wipes the gold dirt off his face.

"Not bad."

Both of us lunge at each other and lock swords. Hastily, I drop my sword and do a front-flip over his head, leaving his back exposed. When I rush in to kick him, he turns around and swipes at my leg-fortunately, he misses because I pull it back in time. He puts his foot on my sword and slides it to the side.

"You improved over night Clancy," I compliment with my fists raised. "But I do not need a sword most of the time."

'

"Gaah-ugh!"

The sound of Clancy's scream as I sneak in a knee to the rib cage. I grab his shoulders and punch him to the dirt. I hustle over to where my sword lays, snatch it up, and quickly return to find Clancy sprawled on the ground. My sword hovers over his throat.

"_I won't let it happen!" _he shouts. With surprising and amazing agility, he springs to his feet and slashes at my face. I leap back from him and press my light green kimono sleeve against my cheek.

Blood seeps from my cheek uncontrollably. Before Clancy takes this chance to react, I shove myself into him elbow first. He crashes to the ground, head-first, and releases his sword. I raise my sword at his swollen face, right between the eyes. Clancy closes his eyes and sighs.

"You win."

"Clancy has surrendered. Risa of the Village of Willow wins the final round!" The Chief of Golden Village happily declares.

I get off of Clancy, still holding my sleeve to my bleeding face, and hold my free hand out to Clancy. Shamefully and guiltily, he takes it and I yank him to his feet.

"Risa, I'm so, so sorry," he apologizes sincerely. "I never wanted you to get hurt."

"It is a competition that required violence," I excuse his sharp attack. As I talk, blood spills over my lips and into my mouth-it makes him grimace. "You did well."

His eyes drop. The Chief of the Golden Village gestures me to come over while Father gazes at me with a horrified look.

'

Later, on the path back to my village, Clancy catches up with me. He seems satisfied with himself for some reason.

"Still bleeding?" he asks guiltily.

"A little. Do not worry so much about it-I will not die from it."

"But I-hurt you. And you told me about what happened-I feel terrible." He stops in his tracks and falls to his knees to beg for forgiveness.

"Clancy, get up. Try not to ruin my happy mood," I insist, expressing irritation. "It is turning dark fast and I would like to get home."

He stands up and catches up to me. "Fine. What's your prize?"

"A new sword. I will receive it tomorrow."

"Nice. Hey, how much longer are we from the village?"

"Ten minutes." I squint my eyes to look out into the distance to see the huge willows that border the village. I can usually see it from here, but for some reason, it is invisible.

I halt in my tracks. "Do you see the trees, Clancy?"

"No…" he answers worriedly. "Risa, what's-?"

My eyes travel to the grass to the left and right of the path. The grass loses its greenness and turns pure black. As I look up at the sky, the orange sunset colors tracing the sky instantly vanish into a creepy darkness.

"Risa!" Clancy shouts and points at something on the ground. I unsheathe my sword; it takes me about five seconds to associate the black creature with yellow eyes and antennas with anything _demonic_. I hastily swipe at it and watch as it dissipates into a black mist.

The wind kicks up, turning angry in a second. The same black creatures swallow the path going to our village and the one to The Golden Village, which I cannot see either. Clancy and I bump into each other's backs as the creatures migrate over to us.

"Start swiping," I order.

"Roger that."

I will never understand who Roger is. Anyway, I slash at the creatures covering the path leading to The Golden Village while Clancy takes the other side. It feels as if we have been doing this for hours, but more creatures come after each defeat.

"Risa, I have to tell you something!" Clancy shouts over the howling wind. I kick one of the creatures in to two others.

"Can it wait?"

"Your father died."

I lower my sword and turn to face him. "How do you know?"

He lowers his sword also, dropping it on the ground for the black creatures with yellow eyes to crawl over.

"Because it was…"

His sentence is swallowed by an explosion coming from my village. Something spherical, charcoal-black with a blood-colored core approaches us. The ground shakes violently as it swallows up the black creatures and everything else in plain sight.

"Run!" I yell, tugging at Clancy's wrist. Clancy and I slash at the black creatures that stand between us and The Golden Village while the sphere chases us down like a predator. It feels as though we are getting nowhere.

Red light creeps up behind my shoulders. I do not think we can outrun this-_this thing_ anymore. My feet gravitate towards the black sphere when I pick them up to run. Clancy is no faster and the sphere is closing in on him. His head turns to me with a sorrowful look on his face.

"I'm sorry that I c-"

"_Clancy, what are you doing?" I asked him, lowering my sword. Eight year old Clancy raised his sword and pointed it at my chest. "You cannot do that in a real fight. Posing will get you killed."_

_He shook his head making a clicking sound with his tongue. "Nope. I'm only gonna do it when I fight you."_

"_Why?"_

"_It means we fight for what our hearts want and nothing else. I fight for what your heart wants."_

"_What does my heart want?"_

"_How the heck should I know?" he shrugged. "Only you know what your heart wants."_

_What a strange kid-but that is why I like him. I stretched my hand out and pointed my sword at his chest._

"_What does your heart want?" I asked him, eagerly wanting to fight already._

"_To stay friends until we die."_

_My head snapped to the side, slightly embarrassed. Clancy opens his mouth in severe confusion._

"_What's the matter?"_

"_Nothing."_

_The sun had never shone as brightly as it did that day. Even when dusk fell, vibrant colors of the sun blanketed the blue sky._

**I can't believe I made a Risa story with all kinds of emotions. Well there's a specific reason for this, but why would I tell you that? I digress-please leave me a review or something to work with. Last time I'm telling you this-for the next story, please put me on author alert list NOT story alert. Ok, thanks ;)**


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